Death Becomes Them
by zombie.square.dancing
Summary: Cole Ivarrson might just have it a bit worse than most other teens her age.She experiences death constantly,with no idea as to why.As a last attempt to save her sanity,Cole's mom ships her off to South Park to live with her older brother.
1. Chapter 1

How_ the fuck did things come to this?_

I found myself asking this question over and over again in my head. Had I really become that much of a burden to my mother that she had to ship me out to another state to go live with my brother?

Don't get me wrong, I loved my brother Logan dearly, but did he really need to deal with a clinically depressed teenager when he had problems of his own to handle?

My life before this use to be somewhat fulfilling. I lived in a shitty little border town in Texas, excited about starting my senior year of high school. I stood out because the good majority of the people of that town were tan due to their Mexican descent. Logan always told me that we were pale because of our dad's Scandinavian heritage. Can't say I knew him personally. He was a crab fisherman and his boat was tarnished during a really bad storm, washing everyone in that boat out to sea. I was only a few months old then, so it's not like I can say I was too shaken up by it.

My thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on my bedroom door.

"Come in."

Logan peeked his head into my room, his shoulder length ebony hair was tied into a ponytail, signaling that he was almost ready for work.

"Hey Cole. You ready?"

I sighed and replied," As ready as I'll ever be."

The drive to school was long and silent. I just wasn't in a chit-chat kind of mood. I was pissed about having to start over in a new school in some Hick town in Colorado, a state I had yet to adjust to.

"It'll be fine, Cole. I'm sure you'll have a set group of friends by the end of the day. ," Logan said trying to break the silence.

My let a frustrated groan escape my throat and rested my head against the window, looking out to see the never changing scenery of snow and pine trees. I shivered. I hated the cold, but living so close to Mexico I had never really been exposed to snow. It's pretty much one extreme to another.

"Do you really think that, Logan?"

"Um, yeah. Sure do, kiddo. ," his tone said otherwise.

"Thank you brother dearest!"

"Don't be such a drama queen. I mean it. I'm gonna have to be beating the boys of you with sticks! Do you think this is a good excuse to buy a shotgun, now? ," he asked jokingly.

I cracked a smile and nudged him slightly.

I entered the main entrance of the foreign high school. The heating system was on, causing a shiver to run down my back due to the contrast of temperature. I unzipped my leather jacket, immediately feeling relief. My schedule said that my homeroom was in room 2622- Mr. Cook.

_Great. Now to find it._

As I passed the endless number of students, I heard fragments of remarks made like "_Who picked out her wardrobe, Beavis and Butt-head?_" or "_Who let Elvira in_?"

I looked down at my attire. Megadeth t-shirt under a black motorcycle jacket, dark skinny jeans tucked into black combat boots.

I can see how I stood out just a bit.

"If you need help getting by, you can come to us."

I glanced up from my boots to see a group of Goth kids standing before me. They reeked of cigarettes and coffee roast.

"Excuse me? ," I asked.

"These narrow-minded dipshits won't accept you. You can always hangout with us if you need a clique to fall into. You kinda fit the part, except for the shirt. Megadeth is pretty lame. ," the skinny long haired male, I'm guessing their leader, said.

I balled my fists up and took in a deep breath.

"I'd rather be lonely than have to take that kinda shit from a bunch of suedo-Goth kids._** Nobody **_fucking disses Megadeth like that to my face!"

I stormed off. How the fuck could they mistake me for one of them. I don't even wear that much eyeliner!

I managed to push my way through a crowd of Malibu Barbie clones. They looked down on me, probably because I wasn't as tall, blonde, or well endowed as they were. How the hell did they even get so orange anyways?

"Look girls, I think she might actually be an A-Cup. Last time I saw that, we were in the 4th grade. ," their leader sneered. There was always that one blonde bimbo that was just a tad bit smarter than the rest of the girls in her group.

"Check your eyes, doll, they're a B, as in bitch, as in you. ," I snapped.

"Bet you're so clever you came up with that all on your own, you little cunt!," she sneered, inching closer to me.

"Actually, you're giving me way too much leeway to keep 'em coming."

"If you're as smart as you think you are, new girl, you should probably know at this point that we're more than likely gonna make the rest of your stay at SPH a very unpleasant experience.," one of the lackees stated as-a-matter-of-factly.

"As much as I enjoy a good catfight, I can't help but call out a few snarky bitches when I see them."

I looked to my side and there stood, I guess you can say my savior at the moment.

He towered a good foot over me, I would say probably 6 feet flat,a good 10 inches more than tiny ol' me. He had unruly blonde hair, and was dressed somewhat like Kurt Cobain in what looked like a hand-me-down flannel shirt, and holey jeans.

"Don't tell on us, Kenny. ," their leader said coyly.

"I wouldn't bother wasting my time. After all, this high school runs clockwork because of you all. Keep up the good fucking work. ," he said sarcastically placing his hand on my back and leading me away from the group of the Paris Hilton carbon copies.

"First day and you already found trouble," the boy, I assumed to be Kenny, said jokingly.

"Trouble found me."

"Well, lucky for you, I'll be around to make sure it doesn't find you again. I'm Kenny McCormick."

He paused, holding out his hand for me to shake. As I returned the gesture, I took a good look at his face. He had a shocking pair of cerulean eyes I had ever seen…_**ever**_!

"I'm Nicole Ivarrson. Cole for short."

"Having trouble finding your homeroom?," he asked.

"Yeah, would you happen to know a Mr. Cook?"

The corners of his mouth contorted into a grin.

"Yes ma'am. He's my homeroom teacher."

Upon hearing this news, I could honestly say, this was the best thing I probably heard all morning.

"Great! So you wouldn't mind escorting me?"

"Not at all, it would actually be a privilege."

He led the way, and I followed closely at my rescuer's side.

"So, just giving you a heads up, Mr. Cook might come off to you a tad bit alarming?"

"Why's that, Mr. McCormick?"

And there was that grin again. I think he enjoyed me addressing him by that.

"Oh you'll see. You can sit next to me and we'll pass notes and do all that BFF crap. ," he joked.

"Oh goody! Can we even get those heart necklaces also that split in half?" I beamed up at him.

"Fuck that! We're classy, we'll get lockets instead."

I liked this kid. Can't say I had met many of my fellow peers at this point, but after those run-ins with the Goth kids and the Clone Troopers, Kenny seemed like a fucking blessing!

_Not to mention that he was pretty easy on the eyes._

"And here comes the moment of truth. ," he said as we came to a halt outside our classroom.

I opened at door and I was given the first few words to associate with my new teacher.

"Nice of you to show up, Kenny, you fucking douchebag!"

"Hey Dane!" Kenny waved back with fake enthusiasm.

**Holy cow!**

"Dane Cook is our homeroom teacher?"

"I know, I'd be scared too.," Kenny chuckled.

"Shut the fuck up, McCormick and go take your seat behind your butt buddy, Stan," Dane retorted.

"Shut the fuck up, Dane!," A boy with shoulder length jet black hair exclaimed from his seat.

Kenny gave me a sly wink and took his seat behind the boy that just had the outburst.

"Ok, so you're the new girl, Nicole, right?," Dane asked eyeing me up and down, failing to be the slightest bit discreet.

"Sure, let's go with that. ," I replied.

"You 18 yet?"

"No."

"Take a seat next to McCormick.," he dismissed me and went back to reading Hustler.

_I never liked his stand-up anyways!_

I walked over and plopped down in the empty desk next to Kenny's.

"Explain.," I demanded turning my head to him.

Stan turned around to face us, something telling me that he would beat Kenny into bad mouthing Dane Cook.

"His career as a comedian and an actor failed so bad, the only job he could get was as an English teacher in bum-fuck South Park.," Stan said enthusiastically.

"Pretty much what he said.," Kenny smiled.

So I hit it off pretty well with Kenny and Stan. Apparently they've been friends since they were wee lads. They brought up 2 of their other friends, Kyle and Cartman. They gave me a heads up; I would get along great with Kyle and fucking hate Cartman upon first meeting him.

_Lovely._

"So where are you from, Cole? Not very fair that Stan and I practically spilled to you our life's story, but we know nothing about you yet. ," Kenny said.

_Well, I might to omit a few things._

"I'm from a border town in Texas. My mom is Hispanic, my dad was Swedish and Finnish. I moved in with my older brother, Logan. He works at an office supply company, but he's also a musician. He's a pretty sick bassist, and his band plays the occasional gig every now and then. We have a puppy named Han, my lucky number is 13, my favorite color is any shade of blue, and I like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain."

"You're so mysterious. I dig that in girls. ," Kenny winked.

"It's not so appealing once you get to know me."

"I'd like to get to know you. ," he replied sincerely.

I don't think anyone ever told me that before. It shocked me a bit, but not in a bad way. Kenny came off as a smooth talker at times, but there was something he eyes said that his words couldn't. They looked like the eyes of a person that dealt with a lot of demons. Eyes like mine.

"I'd like to get to know you too, Kenny."

I managed to find my way to my other classes fine. It would have been cool if I had the option of taking an elective like all the other kids, but I had to go to these group therapy sessions in the counselor's office instead.

_Did I fail to mention that I'm not normal?_

The guidance counselor was a man with a huge head compared to his slim body, and had thinning hair.

"Oh you must be Nicole. I'm Mr. Mackey, and I'm the head counselor here, m'kay. From what I understand, you've been suffering from extreme night terrors for about-"

"12 years now.," I cut him off.

"And these therapy sessions are a way for you to vent to others who are in the same boat as you're in, m'kay. There are 4 other kids in the group, and we don't judge here, m'kay. We want to help you make progress, m'kay."

When we entered the therapy room, I almost ran back out. There in one of the seats that consisted of the therapy group was Kenny. He glanced up at me, taken back at first, but gave me a reassuring smile.

Like a prisoner walking towards death row, I made my way over towards the chair besides Kenny's. Like earlier when he was defending me from the blondes, he placed a hand my back.

I just made friends with him, I wasn't sure if I wanted him to know about my dirty laundry just yet.

"Alright kids, how about we go one by one and talk about anything you feel like you needa get off your chest, m'kay. How about we start with Stu and move our way on to Nicole for last."

Stu then proceeded how he had been having these reoccurring dreams that he was Tinkerbell and it was really starting to worry him. His parents went as far as to almost buy out a CVS to just get a hold of something to suppress his dreams.

Kenny rolled his eyes. I could tell that whatever Stu was dealing with, didn't even come close to what Kenny must have been dealing with.

So that's what happened. We listened to everyone's progress or lack of it. Finally, it came down to Kenny. He sighed and looked over towards me, almost sad that he had to share this with me.

"I had another episode again. This time I got shot in the chest with a double barrel shotgun. Everything felt so real, like it always does. I was trying to stop this cocksucker from stealing this lady's purse. He shot me at point blank and the last thing I remember seeing before walking towards the light was that the cops cuffed him and stuffed him in the back of the squad car. When I tuned into the local news this morning, the same woman was on thanking the boy that gave his life to help her. They said he was unidentified. It never gets better. I die, I go to heaven, hell, or purgatory for a bit, but always wake up in my bed safe and sound, and no one ever remembers me dying."

My heart was shattering at this moment. I had to speak up.

"You're not alone. I've experienced my death more than I can count throughout the years. I've never found an answer for it."

"M'kay, Nicole would you mind discussing this further in depth with the group?"

I looked at Kenny one last time, and nodded in response to Mackey's question.

"Ever since I was a little kid, I died almost every other day of my life or at least I dream up my death according to my mom. Throughout the years, it's gotten a little less frequent. One time I got pneumonia three times in a row. It was pretty painful. I remember following this beam of light, kinda like in Star Trek, and being in this forest with bright fruit growing on all the trees. I think I've met God on several occasions. One time God was a hedgehog, another time he was George Clooney. We would usually shoot the shit for awhile, then he'd say it was time for me to wake up and I would be in my bed at home again."

Everyone looked at me like I was some sort of freak. Even Mackey!

The only person that seemed didn't give me a scrutinizing look was Kenny. He just listened while occasionally running his hand through his messy golden mane.

"I met Satan a few times also. He told me I didn't belong there, but was nice to give me a tour of all nine levels of Hell. Sometimes I would just end up in a big open field. It would never end. Can't say that I hated that place, can't say I really liked it. Mom tried to help me, but after awhile, I just became a huge liability to her. She'd wake up to me screaming in my room after I had just woken up. She'd usually work 12 hour shifts , and just couldn't handle the sleepless nights anymore."

Just then the bell for lunch rang, and Mr. Mackey was the first one up.

"M'kay, good first day, Nicole. I see that you have potential to overcome this problem, m'kay. See you all tomorrow."

"He said the exact same thing to me after my first session. Can't say that I've made much process. ," Kenny whispered to me once we were outside of the office.

"I stop trying to figure it out. Sure it's a horrible feeling knowing that I can't die, but I can't stop the inevitable. ," I said playing around with my mid-neck length raven colored hair.

He stopped and pulled me over to a narrow corner.

"I hated it so much. Having to deal with death, and have none of my friends or family even remember what happened to me. That's why I need to ask if you can do me a favor?"

"Sure, what's up, Kenny?"

"If I die and tell you that I did, will you try to remember or at least try to believe me that it happened?"

I searched his eyes. I found a connection with them, and for once, I wasn't alone. All the pain, fear, and anger that I felt, Kenny felt as well. I wasn't alone anymore.

"Only if you do the same for me. ," I answered beaming up at him.

His lips formed a smile, and he reached in and hugged me. I smiled, because I made a friend under the weirdest circumstances, but he was a friend none the less. Someone that could finally understand what had been ailing me for the good majority of my existence.

"I got an idea!"

He slung his backpack off his shoulders and reached into it, pulling out a notepad and a pen. He proceeded to scribbling down something, tearing it out, and pressing the piece of paper into the palm of my hand.

"It's my address and cell number. Give me yours. In case one of us dies before the other, we know where to get a hold of each other. ," he said.

I scribbled down my address in his notebook. He looked down at it and back up at me.

"You live in the same subdivision as Stan. That's pretty sweet, I live a few blocks away from there so we're all relatively close. Even Kyle and Cartman live pretty close to us too."

I smiled. I had to. I wasn't expecting my first day here to turn out this great. I already made 2 friends who were also my neighbors. _**That's 2 more than what I had before!**_

"Kenny, where have you been all my life?," I exclaimed and gave him a quick hug.

He held me away from him at arm's length, probably mirroring the same smile I had on.

"Right here waiting for you, Cole."


	2. Chapter 2

Kyle was a Jewish boy with the reddest, curliest fro I had ever seen. It was pretty adorable. Kenny and Stan even made me run my hand through it, and it felt like I was petting a lamb.

And then there was Cartman. According to the boys, he used to be a fat asshole a few years back. His mother had married a fitness instructor since then, and Cartman's stepdad put him on a corrective diet and workout routine against his will.

Now Cartman was just an asshole.

We sat around the lunch table, Kenny and I sharing a box of Crunch Bites.

"Hey Kenny, pass over that box, would ya. ," Cartman demanded rather than asked.

Kenny held up one of the chocolate pieces to his face, smiling maniaclly.

"Let me think that over for a sec, Cartman."

"C'mon Kenny, don't be a greedy prick! ,"Cartman shouted frantically.

"If you insist, Ass-Munch. Cole, want some chocolate? ,"Kenny asked handing out the piece to me.

"Why thank you, Kenny!"

"You fucking butt munch, Kenny! ,"Cartman whined.

"What are your plans for tonight, Cole? ,"Kyle asked as he carved into his piece of chicken fried….something.

I strummed my two index fingers on the edge of the table and replied, "Nothing much. My brother has to work pretty late tonight, and then he has a gig with his band afterwards, so I was just planning on watching AMC movies."

"We were gonna head over to Kenny's place to indulge in some _Devil's Lettuce_. Do you partake? ," Stan asked.

"_Devil's Lettuce_?"

"Ugh, he means pot, do we gotta spell it out for you, Spick? ," Cartman snapped.

I shot Cartman a look that said '_I'm going to castrate you if you ever use that term one more time.' _before turning back to face the rest of the group.

"Yeah, I do partake. It's been a few weeks since the last time I did though, so my tolerance probably went down-"

"_SHH! ,_"Kenny shushed me glancing over Kyle's shoulder nervously.

I followed his gaze, my eyes falling upon a tall slender girl, maybe a few inches shorter than Kenny, with unnaturally bright red hair. She had a huge bust, and made sure to flaunt it with her skin tight pink sweater.

"There you are, Ken! Where were you last night? You were supposed to have shown up at the bonfire! All the other girls on the squad kept asking if you had ditched me and pretended to feel sorry for me, while I was forced to watch as all their boyfriends showed up to support them. I was the one at the top of the pyramid for once, and you weren't even there to witness it!," the red head shrieked as she approached Kenny's flank.

Kenny took a deep breath and hesitated to look up at her for a second before replying, " I got offered an extra shift at work and I really needed the money."

"What an excuse! Kenny you're 17-years-old, why would you _need_ the money?"

His eyes narrowed on her, in an almost venomous fashion.

"You know perfectly well why, Red. Please don't make me repeat it here. ,"he hissed back at her.

That when her attention was shifted over to me, her glare so scary, I almost thought I would be turned into stone.

"Who's she? ,"she demanded to know.

"That's Cole, she's new here, and you're buddies on the squad were giving her shit this morning. You need to tell them to lay off, something tells me that this isn't the last Cole will see of them. ," Kenny said in an almost threatening way.

"I seriously doubt Bebe, and the girls would give someone shit without just reason, and besides I can't tell them what to do."

Kenny sighed and grabbed his lunch tray and walked away from the lunch table, looking extremely pissed off. Red gritted her teeth and trailed after him.

"What the hell was that? ,"I asked facing the other three boys.

"It's become a daily routine for the last two months since they started dating. Red comes over, bitches Kenny out, Kenny gets pissed and leaves and they argue for the rest of the lunch period in the sophomore hallway. ," Kyle said through a mouth full of his steak that he had been chewing on for the last five minutes.

"Seriously dude, I know she's hot, but Kenny just needs to move on. There's no point in staying with someone if all you do is fight all the time. ," Stan added.

"You're one to talk Stan, it's not like you and Wendy are the poster couple in school. ," Cartman said.

"Yeah, but at least we have moments where we get along. Plus, Wendy isn't a bitch."

As if right on cue, a girl with long dark hair snuck up behind Stan and gave him a surprise hug.

"I know I'm not a bitch, but it sounds so sweet when you say it. ," she said giving Stan a kiss on the cheek.

Stan's face lit up like the fourth of July.

"Yeah, but Red sure as hell is. ," Kyle through in.

"Oh God, tell me about it. Oh hey new girl, I'm Wendy. I heard Bebe bitching about you this morning. No wonder she said you were fugly as hell."

"Excuse me?," I asked a little offended.

She giggled and flashed me a bright smile before explaining, "Bebe always says that about girls that are prettier than her."

I felt my face growing hot. I think I would come to like this Wendy girl.

"I'm Cole, and thank you."

"I'm surprised Kenny hasn't tried to make a move on you yet, or has he? ," she seemed extremely giddy as she replaced Kenny in the seat next to me.

"No, he hasn't made a move on me. ," I knew I was blushing at this point.

"Well he should, goddammit! What a dipshit! ," she grunted and then stormed away.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No, she's just overly emotional at times. ," Stan said tearing into his stake.

"You need to buy her some Midol from time to time. ," Cartman sniggered.

"Shut up fatass! ,"Stan retorted.

"I'm not fat anymore, you pussy whooped bitch! "

"Ooops, sorry, old habits die hard."

My last period of the day was home economics, and I was glad to see that I shared it with Stan, Kyle, and this one boy named Butters. Our teacher was this overweight woman named Mrs. Barsley. It seemed liked she was about to assign us something to bake, but she closed her eyes for a split second and dozed off.

"Does she always do this?"

"Pretty much. ," Kyle said as he walked over to the fridge and pulled out a gallon of milk and a carton of eggs. Stan proceeded to pull out some mixing bowls and utensils.

"What can I do to help, guys? ,"Butters asked timidly.

"We got it, dude. Keep Cole some company. We're making muffins. ," Kyle said and went on to preheating the oven.

Butters took a seat next to me at the table. He constantly looked nervous all the time, and the fact that I was a stranger to him probably didn't help.

"What kind of muffins are you all baking? ," I asked.

"Blueberry! ," Stan called back.

"Sweet! I love anything with blueberries in it. My mom makes the best blueberry waffles ever."

"I choked on a blueberry one time when I was in the 5th grade. I haven't had one since then. ," Butters shared with me, wringing his hands together.

"That's unfortunate, Butters, but I promise if I see you choking I'll perform the Heimlich maneuver."

His lips curled into a smile, relief flushing over his face. He was so adorable in a little brother sort of way.

"Where'd you learn how to do the Heimlich maneuver?"

"My old high school. This one kid choked on an eraser and almost died. After that, they made us learn it to prevent that from happening again."

It was fifteen minutes before class was over, and we were helping Stan and Kenny with putting the muffins into Ziploc bags.

Kenny walked into class, looking extremely relaxed in comparison to his angry visage he wore early.

"She finally let go of your balls, Ken? ," Stan asked.

"Don't wanna talk about. ," he said irritably.

He turned to me and gave me a lopsided smile.

"Sorry you had to see that. I promise you though, none of Red's friends will give you shit anymore."

"Thanks, Kenny. ," I replied mirroring his half smile.

At the end of class, we followed Kyle into the parking lot. He was the only one out of all of us that had a car, so he offered to drive us over to Kenny's.

"Great now we're set on munchies. ," Kenny said holding up a Ziploc bag to his face.

"Just as long as Cartman doesn't eat them all. ," Kyle said under his breath.

"I heard that you fucking Jew! ," Cartman snapped.

I rolled my eyes, knowing that this would become my daily routine. My right foot fell upon my untied laces from my left boot. My body came crashing down onto a random pile of snow on the parking lot floor.

"You klutz, you okay? ," Kenny laughed as he walked over to help me.

I chuckled brushing snow off my head. As I made an attempt to stand up and then felt an immense pain that lasted a split second and then everything went pitch black.

My eyes fluttered open, falling upon my Iggy Pop poster. I was back in my room in Logan's house.

_Goddammit! It happened again!_

"Fucking shit! And on the first day of school too!"

I was in my same outfit I wore that day. Did I dream it all? But that means that the friends I made…._Kenny._

I couldn't have dreamt him up, he seemed so real. Pulling my knees up to my chin, I heard our dog, Milo, barking madly was probably hungry or knew that Mormons were in the neighborhood. He wasn't a fan of their 'Word of God' lectures.

Clenching my teeth, I hopped out of bed, noticing my boots were already on. _My boots?_

I looked down at my laces, noticing that the right ones were tied, but the left ones weren't. I did die at school, and everyone I met was real!

I tied my left shoelaces (extra tightly), and ran downstairs. I had to see if Kenny remembered, or believed me at least. The Dachshund was there waiting anxiously at the bottom of the stairs, probably hungry. I swear at times, it's like he knew I died every day. Normally he would be waiting at my bedside when I had one of these episodes, but today it seemed like his hunger got the best of him.

There was a knock at the front door. I looked through the peephole and saw Kenny's distorted figure through the lens. I opened it and was practically tackled to the ground in his tight embrace.

"I'm so fucking sorry! ," he exclaimed.

"Kenny, what happened? Do the others remember? ," I asked frantically pulling away from him to close the door behind him.

"Red ran you over with her car. She was backing out while you were on the ground and I guess she didn't see you. I would have yelled at her, but I knew it would have been pointless, because she wouldn't have even remembered. No one does. The guys are convinced that you caught the bus to come back here to change. I didn't want to alarm them and just went along with it. They never believe me when I tell them that this kind of shit happens to me all the time. ," he said sadly taking a seat on my couch.

Milo hopped up and rested his furry little head on Kenny's lap. With a solemn expression Kenny scratched behind the dog's floppy ears.

"But you remember. ," I said taking the seat next to him.

"I don't know why, but I do. It's so strange. None of this makes sense to me."

I placed a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to try and comfort him.

"Maybe we're not supposed to make sense of it. Maybe it just is."

He glanced up and flashed me an actual smile for the first time since lunch.

"You should probably go change since all the other guys thought that's what you initially came over to do."

"And what do they think you're doing over here? ," I asked as I treaded up the stairs.

"There's that convenient store at the end of the street that we come to pretty often. I said I would go get some sodas and junk food and then come and get you."

"Ah. ,"was all I replied before reaching my room.

I changed into a Metallica _Kill 'Em All_ shirt, a purple hoodie, and switched into my black slip on Vans for comfort…and safety.

After stocking up on enough junk food, we made our way to Kenny's house.

"I'm warning you ahead of time, my house is a hell hole. My family lives off welfare, and the whole place is going to shit. Sorry I have to be blunt about it, but I just didn't want it to come off as such a shock."

"I don't care, Kenny."

"Pfft. You say that now."

"I'm serious, Kenny. I'm not your friend 'cause I thought you'd have an awesome house if that's what you're worried about."

"You know, you're too nice of a person for this town. ," he said as we turned at the end of the block.

"Eh, only on Tuesdays. ," I joked.

We stood outside his home. There were cracks running down the walls, and parts of the roof seemed like they were slightly caving in. The inside was just as bad if not worse. The couch looked as if it was rotting away. The man passed out on the couch was nearly close to spilling his beer onto his crotch. There were things that stuck out oddly from the house, though. Every now and then I would catch a glimpse of something new looking that didn't fit in with the aged interior of the house. There were argyle patterned gray curtains that contrasted to the broken down off-white blinds behind them.

Some of the kitchen pantry doors were practically falling off the hinges, but there were still hints of a few groceries behind them. My eyes fell upon the small preteen girl that was sadly doodling away on her sketchpad on the makeshift kitchen table.

"Hey Karen, why so down? ," Kenny asked approaching her.

My guess was that this was his little sister. She seemed so adorable, wearing what seemed to be hand-me-down boys clothes that seemed a bit too big for her tiny figure.

"The girls at school wear making fun of me again. They were pushing me around and calling me a dyke for wearing your clothes. ," she answered quietly.

Kenny's eyebrows furrowed in anger. He sighed and replied , "It's my fault. I promise come this paycheck I'll take you shopping."

"No, Kenny. You already got us food this past Friday. ,"she protested.

"Actually, Karen, I have a bunch of clothes that don't fit me anymore from when I was in junior high, if you want, I can bring over the boxes sometime and you can sort over the ones you want. ,"I said stepping into the convo.

Kenny looked up at me and gave me a huge smile.

"Karen, this is my new friend, Cole. Cole, this is my little sister Karen. ," Kenny began with the formal introductions.

"You would really just give me your clothes, Cole? ,"Karen asked hopefully.

"Sure. I used to be about your size when I was in the 8th grade, so they should fit you a lot better than boys clothes."

"Kenny, why aren't you dating her? ,"Karen snapped at her brother.

His face instantly turned red, and I have to say, I'm sure mine was too. I take it a lot of people associated with Kenny weren't fans of Red. After being hit by her car, I can't say that I was one either.

"I'll bring over a box tomorrow morning, that way you can have something different for school tomorrow."

"Thank you so much! ,"she said jumping off her chair and hugging me. She turned to Kenny and then hugged him as well before making a dash to her room.

"You really are too nice for this town. ,"he repeated.

"She reminds me of my little sister. I always wanted to pass on my old band t-shirts, but now that she's 13, she's too tall to fit into any of shirts or jeans."

I followed him into his room, which surprisingly tidy compared to the rest of the house. He had somewhat new furniture, and it smelled like a combination of pot and air fresheners. Cartman, Kyle, and Stan sat in a semi-circle around a bong. Kenny tossed the grocery bag full of drinks and chips at Cartman, hitting him square in the face.

"Fuck, Kenny!"

"No thank you, Cartman. ," he said as we completed the circle. He pushed the bong over my direction and proceeded to take my hit. It burned the back of my throat like crazy, making my eyes water. I began choking on the smoke, knowing that it was going to hit me pretty hard. Kyle and Kenny patted me on the back, Stan passed me over a cream soda.

"You okay? ,"Kenny asked.

"Oh God, that's good stuff!," Ichuckled.

The boys laughed at my response. So, that's how the night's events continued. We took a few more hits and played a bit of Mortal Kombat on Kenny's Xbox 360. Once our highs wore off, the boys began headed off to their homes.

"I'll walk you and Stan home. ," Kenny offered.

"Aww why thank you, Kenny! ," Stan said in a mock southern belle accent.

"Anytime you Jezebelle! ,"Kenny retorted.

Stan lives a few houses down from me. We left him at his doorstep, making sure he made it inside.

It was a lot colder out since the sun had gone down. I wish I had worn a thicker coat.

"Hey, why don't I give you one of the boxes of clothes so you can surprise Karen tonight."

"Sounds good to me, jellybean. ,"he replied.

My brother's car was in the driveway. I guess the gig didn't last too long.

I unlocked the door and us in. Logan was sitting on the sofa watching Terrance and Philip on t.v.

"Hey Cole and Cole's friend. ," he greeted breaking his gaze away from the t.v. His hair was now loose, and fell over his shoulders as he was dressed in an Iron Maiden shirt and Ninja Turtle pajama pants.

"Hey Logan. This is Kenny. I was gonna give him a box of my old clothes so he could give them to his sister."

"Is that the box labeled '_8__th__ Grade' _? ,"he asked.

"Yup."

"Yeah it's in the garage behind the old futon."

I led the way into the garage and found the box in no time. Luckily it wasn't too stuffed, so it was easy to lift.

"I can't thank you enough, Cole. ," Kenny said happily.

"Hey Kenny, where do you work?"  
>"At the café at the Barnes and Noble at the mall. We're looking for new hires if you're interested."<p>

"Yeah, actually I am. I need to keep busy out here, and I've been meaning to buy some new threads."

"Drop by tomorrow, I'll put in a good word with my manager."

"Thanks Kenny."

"No problem. Be ready by 8:00 tomorrow morning. We'll come by and pick you up."

I let him out through the garage, following him outside.

"Kenny, please be careful on your walk home. When I died today, I was really scared that I had just dreamt you up."

"I was scared about that also. You're the only one here that I can talk to about this and doesn't think I'm crazy."

"Only because I already know I'm crazy, so nothing really phases me nowadays. ," I said.

"If I die, I'll let you know, okay. ," he smiled before walking off towards the direction of his house.

I walked back inside sitting down next to Logan. We talked for awhile about my first day of school and his gig before I said goodnight and went on to get ready for bed. After getting out of the shower, I saw my phone screen glowing on the pile of clothes I had set it on.

It was a text from Kenny that read '_Call back ASAP.'_

I got dressed and walked into my room dialing his number.

"Hey. ," he answered.

"What's up, Ken?"

"I died tonight."

"On your way home? ,"I asked in a shocked stupor.

"Nah. After I got home, I gave Karen the box and went to take a shower. I slipped in the tub, and banged my head really hard against the wall. Next thing I know, I was back in my room. ," he laughed.

I shook my head and chuckled.

"Please try to be more careful, Kenny."

"Only if you do the same for me. Seeing you die today wasn't much fun."

"Maybe you should tell your girlfriend not to drive like a maniac. ," I teased.

He cleared his throat and then stayed silent for awhile before saying , "I guess I'll see you in the morning. Night Cole."

"Night Kenny."

The call ended and I placed the phone by my bedside table. I couldn't explain it, but I was just dying for it to be 8 AM already.


End file.
